For those that may have had plans to fish it, there will be no season this year.
http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20101...-year-govt-says

Ouch. No plans to fish it, but sad to see the Thompson in such sad shape.

"The issue is marine survival"......DUH... not surviving the nets...

Disgusting, but I am certain that the commies will still be netting while those fish are trying to get inland.

Every year during the chum roe fishery, 1000's of those fish are wiped out.

Sad

We cancelled too......feel sorry for the innkeepers at Acacia Grove/Spences Bridge.....sad deal.

due to the lack of Chum salmon in the Fraser system this year. All of the sport fisheries have been closed to retention and ALL of the commercial gill netting in both the Fraser and the approach waters has been closed since early October. Sort of makes the situation even a little more dire. The commercial fishery that most likely did the most Damage to Thompson steelhead was the sockeye netting this year.

One of my favorite rivers to fish. I'm ok with them closing it, and keeping it closed until they can acheive a sustainable returns.

Keeping them out of the nets would be a good starting point.

The local businesses (Log Cabin Pup, Acacia Grove, etc) will be hit hard. Not much else going on there that time of year. Sad all the way around!!!

Wonder how many Thompson River coho were also taken in the fishery. That run is important in the coho fisheries in the Strait (MA 5 and MA 6). It's been depressed or down for a while and delays the non-selective coho fishery opener for us.

Keyword being THIS year.

Previous years, it has been the pinks and chum roe. Both of which have little economic impact or benefit for BC. It's a total lose lose...

The sockeye fishery occurs mainly during August. Not many Thompson or Chilcotin steelhead in Puget Sound or Georgia Strait that early. The Fraser chum fishery has traditionally been where the most net interceptions of Thompson steelhead occur.

Sg

unfortunately with this years sockeye return both gill netting and the seiners fished a lot longer than what is now usual. The test fishery had steelhead in it at the end of August and DFO had a few gill netting days after the first fish showed up. I personally know gill netters that caught steelhead when they fished the opening at the end of August. Sad news all around.

Appreciate your updates from up north rln

Was at a dinner party recently and at the party was a local commercial fisherman from Bellingham. He knew I was a fisherman and he was bragging about all the Fraser River sockeye they netted this year, he was also telling me about the huge wild steelhead that they were pickn up in their nets. He said one was close to thirty pounds and he took a picture with it. He even said that most likely these were Thompson River fish. Its my understanding that The Thompson is a River that gets less than a thousand returning steelhead a year and from what I've seen are specimens like no other. I threw up in my mouth a little bit when he told me this.

Big Suks....It is a River meant to have BIG FEESH... and the stores, bars, hotels now suffer...never thinking it would come to this ...wow-

If they close a river to sports fishing and the nets are out I am happy.

If they close a river to sports fishing and the nets are in I feel sick.

Sounds like this one will be good for the Thompson and I am happy about it. Although I farmed a hell of a fish up there last Nov and was hoping to try that again......

It is a crying shame what has happened to the Thompson but it has been on its heels for a long time now. How the BC government can justify requiring a classified water stamp for the Thompson, when the returning adults has been less than 1,000 adults many times over the past few years is beyond me. I'm all for paying classified waters if the water is truly deserving of classified status. The Thompson is a HUGE system. To think there are so few fish to seed literally hundreds of river miles is extremely sad.

As far as the nets being out this year that is not true. Just talked to a good friend that lives in B.C. and knows a lot about what is going on and the natives are STILL netting the fraser. Say what u want about habitat ocean conditions etc, the big issue on this system is the native netting. The sockeye fishery this year murdered the early "T" fish. One of my best friends who lives here said they got a big wild steelhead out in the straits while commercial fishing too.

It is extremely sad what has happened to this river. I am sad to say that I just started fishing this last year and I can honestly say after fishing all over the northwest for steelhead that these fish are truely some of, if not the most special steelhead that you will ever lay a hand on!!!

Tim